


The Tales of Ember Island

by for_darkness_shows_the_stars



Series: What Comes After [12]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Badass Toph Beifong, Ember Island (Avatar), Gaang (Avatar) as Family, Gen, Katara and Zuko being sickeningly sweet in the background, Post-War, Pre-Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sandbending & Sandbenders, Swearing, because toph
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27367027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_darkness_shows_the_stars/pseuds/for_darkness_shows_the_stars
Summary: The Gaang, and their first annual Ember Island vacation.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong, Minor Katara/Zuko, The Gaang (Avatar) - Relationship, minor Sokka/Suki - Relationship
Series: What Comes After [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981828
Comments: 9
Kudos: 92





	The Tales of Ember Island

By the time Toph arrived to the Caldera, the preparations were nearly over. Everyone was packed, the luggage loaded onto a small, nondescript sail ship (as opposed to literally any other ship in Zuko’s fleet, including, but not by any means limited to, his fancy Firelord yacht), and Appa sunned on the deck.

Toph herself _hated_ the ship in question—stupid wood she couldn’t even see on. But a small sailship was, apparently, easy for Sweetness and Twinkletoes to move with their water and airbending, and swiftness and simplicity was what they wanted.

And no-one could contain their excitement. She could hear it in their voices. _She_ was excited too. After a year of rebuilding a devastated world, and maintaining a peace none of them had ever known, what could be better than a vacation on Ember Island, for old times’ sake, except this time, without a threat of the world’s imminent end.

That used to put a damper on things, sometimes.

But here they were—early summer, a sail ship in the private, royal section of Caldera’s port (being best friends with the Firelord was fucking _amazing_ ), a week on their schedules freed up, and a course plotted for Ember Island.

* * *

“Man, no offense Zuko, your private beach is awesome, but don’t you guys think it’d be cool if we could go to the public beach for once?” Snoozles asked. As he was currently lazing on the private beach in question, sipping watermelon juice, his complains didn’t move Toph all that much.

She was practicing her sandbending. In the year since she had been here last, she had advanced enough that her feet no longer differentiated between solid rock and the sand she walked on, and the sculptures she could build with it were getting more impressive by the day.

(There were also other uses, far less harmless. The War might be over, but Toph would never forget the feeling of fire that snapped at her feet, as she clung to Sokka’s hand, truly blind for the first time in her life.)

“Um …” Twinkletoes said from where he’d been playing with Momo, “What’s stopping us, exactly?”

Snoozles’s weight shifted in the sand. “Aang … you’re a genius.”

* * *

And so, upon remembering they’re no longer fugitives, they set off from the comfort of the house, towards a public beach. A lot of rich people had houses here, apparently, and from the words exchanged between the sighted people, Toph could conclude that there were hotels and resorts popping up every ten metres.

The public beach was large, crowded, and loud, full of Fire Nation people and their Fire Nation colours—except not really. Toph couldn’t see colours (nor did she particularly care to), so she couldn’t tell if anyone else here wore their homeland’s (apparently her favourite idiots did, and it was a _big deal_ ), but the cacophony of accents that reached her ears was a mix from all over the world.

And though Toph would never admit to caring, this was nonetheless a source of pride for her, that they’ve accomplished this. They built a world where Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe people could come and spend their summer in the Fire Nation’s most popular vacation spot.

Her friends dispersed quickly after setting up their towels and parasols.

Twinkletoes was off to join a bunch of kids’ game of volleyball— _boooooring_ , for someone who couldn’t see the ball flying directly at her face.

Snoozles and Fan Girl have wandered off somewhere, presumably to do even more absolutely disgusting lovey-dovey couple-y things. Sometimes, Toph wondered if those two magically became joined at the hip when they were together. Or at the mouths. That would most certainly explain a lot of things. At least, she reasoned, it kept Snoozles quiet.

Sweetness and Sparky have elected to remain under the parasol, she sunbathing as he read for her from a scroll they’ve chosen from the beach house study earlier that day, and while Toph usually enjoyed Sparky reading out loud (she couldn’t do it herself, and his voice was _nice_ , so what, _sue her_ ) the amounts of oblivious pining were reaching choke-in-disgust levels, and she just couldn’t take that. It was still uncertain if even _they_ were aware what they were feeling, but ever since Sweetness agreed to become the Southern Water Tribe Ambassador in the Fire Nation at Sparky’s birthday party over six months ago now, they have been sickening.

So, it was up to her to find something to do, if she didn’t want to keep getting hit in the head by a volleyball, or drown in gooiness.

Okay. She could do that.

Not that she minded her friends being together, really. Their lives have been anything but easy, and they deserved every bit of happiness they could find. Of course, she wouldn’t admit that to them under the threat of death.

That was just how Toph operated.

* * *

“A sandcastle building competition?” she heard an unbearably annoying whine exclaim somewhere to her right.

“Oh, for Agni’s sake, keep it down,” a second voice replied. Well. At least someone agreed with her that that noise was an unholy monstrosity.

“Sorry, sorry,” the first one said, still abominably annoying, but marginally quieter. From the second person’s quiet, resigned sigh, Toph reasoned this was the best she was going to get. “And there’s a _prize_?”

“Yep. We just need a third.”

Well.

She hadn’t been practicing this morning for nothing.

“I’ll do it.”

She waited as patiently as could be reasonably expected of her for the two people in question to wrap her heads around her simple statement.

“Um … who are you exactly?” asked the less annoying one.

“Someone who can win a _sand_ castle building competition all on her own a hundred times over, but unfortunately, I need a team, apparently.” She grinned. “I’m Toph.”

“Erm …” Oh, great, the _more_ annoying one was back. “I mean, Jiayi, we _do_ need a third …”

“Okay …” the less annoying spoke again. “Toph, then. I’m Jiayi, this idiot’s my brother Choi.”

“Cool,” said Toph. “Let’s go.”

“Wait! You’re _blind_ ,” Choi exclaimed, his volume _far_ too loud for Toph’s sensitive ears.

“Wow!” she said flatly, reaching up and waving her hand back and forth before her eyes. Her mother would often describe them as _clouded_ , whatever the fuck that meant. “I never knew.”

“How can you partake in a sandcastle building competition if you’re blind?” Jiayi asked sceptically.

“I’m awesome like that.” She shrugged. “Look, if you don’t want to team up with me, I’m just going to find someone else. I win either way.”

Apparently sensing something in her voice, Jiayi nodded. “Sorry … I just nodded,” she said.

“Yeah, I could tell.”

“Let us just … c’mon, Choi, let’s talk.”

They moved away, far enough that if she _weren’t_ Toph Beifong, the Greatest Earthbender in the World, she wouldn’t have been able to hear it, But, as fate would have it …

_“Look … we need a third. What we don’t need is anyone else to build with us. We’re good enough on our own. I say, let the kid join, and have some fun.”_

_“Fine,”_ said Choi, _“but we’re splitting the prize according to contribution_.”

Well. That worked quite all right for Toph.

“Okay, we made our decision,” Choi the Annoying One said magnanimously, “we’re going to let you join. If we win—”

“We will,” Toph interjected.

“If we win,” Choi went on, “we split the prize. How much you get depends on how much you do.”

“Sounds fine to me,” Toph said, stretching out her fingers. “When do we start?”

* * *

“Tell me,” she asked, once they were settled on the patch of sand they ( _she_ ) were going to build their victory on, “what should we build? I’m thinking Ba Sing Se—oh, or maybe one of the Air Temples?”

“We … we’re just going to build a castle.”

“Good idea. The Fire Palace it is. Move.”

Curling her fingers into claws, Toph recalled the way Sparky’s palace _felt_ every time she was there—the tall towers, peaceful gardens, long, winding hallways. She stomped her feet on the ground and listened with satisfaction as the sand moulded itself to her will.

And to Choi and Jiayi’s gasps, of course.

“There,” she said, “done.” A slide of her foot over the sand and had a rock armchair jumping out of the ground. Unceremoniously, Toph slid into it.

“You … you …”

“I’m an _earthbender_ , you idiot,” she said to Choi the Annoying One. “The most skilled earthbender you’ll ever meet.”

“But … isn’t this cheating?”

Toph exhaled a breath so exasperated even Sweetness would be proud. “Tell me, Jiayi, is there anything in the rulebook about sandbending? You know, the ancient earthbending art specific to the sandbending tribes of the Si Wong Desert?”

“Well, no, but I’m sure they weren’t expecting anyone from the Si Wong Desert to enter the competition—”

“I’m not,” Toph interrupted. “I’m from Gaoling. I just travelled a lot. How the hell do you think I knew the exact layout of the Fire Palace? That’s classified information, they don’t just hand it out on platters. Spirits, sighted people are stupid sometimes. _And_ , if they didn’t expect a sandbender to enter the competition now that the War is over, and vacationing in the Fire Nation is all the rage in the Earth Kingdom …” she shrugged. “Well, that’s on _them_.”

That shut them up effectively.

* * *

Predictably, when the judge arrived, she was over the moon at Toph’s Fire Palace. Of course she was.

“A sandbender, you say?” she asked. Her voice was cracked with age, but still strong. Toph liked that voice. “I’m impressed. Well, I don’t think there really is any competition—”

“HOLD UP!”

The voice that cut in was younger than the judge’s, the voice of a boy in his late teens or early twenties. The person who came galloping was _huge_ , his steps resonating soundly within her seismic sense.

“They can’t win! They _cheated_!”

Oh great. Another one of those. “Listen up, _buddy_ ,” Toph snapped. “Just because you didn’t have the foresight to remember that sandbending exists doesn’t make me a cheater!”

The boy—man— _whatever_ —stopped in front of her, heaving. “You little—”

“That’s _enough_ ,” the judge interrupted cooly.

“ _Enough_? Do you know who my father is?”

Toph laughed. “Are you seriously invoking your daddy’s name so you could win a _sandcastle building competition_? This is seriously the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard!”

“My _daddy_ ,” he growled, “is Governor Hong.”

Toph smirked. “Governor, huh? Well, if he’s willing to throw his weight around so his failure of a son could win a _sandcastle building competition_ , maybe he needs to be _replaced_. A word from me into the right ear, and …” Quite literally _the right_. The hearing in his left was severely damaged. Just another thing Ozai deserved to suffer the eternity for. “How about this, _buddy_. You call upon your big guns, and I’ll call upon mine, and we’ll see whose are bigger.”

“This is unnecessary,” the judge tried.

“No, no, I’d like to see what she can do,” said the boy. Toph could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Congratulations,” she said, “you’re threatening a thirteen year-old blind girl. Choi! Jiayi! C’mon. We have a volleyball court to visit.”

* * *

“Twinkletoes!!!”

A whirlwind that blew at the sand around her feet, and then the great World Spirit was next to her, grinning so brightly Toph was going to get cavities. “Hey, Sifu Toph.”

“I need you to mediate a disagreement for me.”

* * *

“I don’t know, Governor Hong,” Twinkletoes said brightly (did he ever do anything gloomily???). “The rules clearly don’t have anything about sandbending in them.”

“I am fully aware of that, Avatar Aang,” said the governor, who very _clearly_ didn’t want to be here. “And I apologize for my son’s behaviour, Lady Beifong. I hope you understand his opinions aren’t representative of all Ember Islanders’.”

Okay, so he may not have to be replaced. That was good. Less work for Sparky.

“I understand, governor,” Toph said magnanimously. “I do, however, hope that you take the right steps to ensure that he understands that the noble calling of His Majesty’s governor is meant to be used for bettering the lives of the citizens of the Fire Nation, not intimidating blind, helpless little girls.” Her smile was nothing short of feral. “Though I’m anything but helpless.”

“Of course, my lady, Avatar Aang. I hope this incident doesn’t taint your stay at Ember Island. And make sure to give His Majesty my sincere greetings.” He bowed, Fire Nation-style.

“Of course, Governor Hong,” said Twinkletoes, as they returned the bow. He’d really come a long way since the end of the War. “We will make certain he knows he has a capable, loyal servant in you.”

“I could ask for nothing more,” the governor replied, and added, in a much harder voice, “Come on, now.” The idiot kid—whose name she didn’t even know, she realized now, followed, albeit _extremely_ reluctantly.

“Bye, Toph,” Twinkletoes said, gathering her into a surprise hug. “I’ve got to get back to volleyball—the other kids are waiting for me. I am making _so many_ new friends!”

And then he was gone in a whirlwind—quite literally—before Toph could even open her mouth to answer. For all that he had mastered the four elements, that boy was Air through and through. But maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

The judge, who was watching the whole exchange quietly, yet with a thunderous heartbeat, finally spoke up. “Well … I suppose this belongs to you, erm … Lady Beifong.” She thrust forward her hand, and Toph could sense the gold inside the bag she was holding. It wasn’t much, but … sweet, sweet victory.

And then the judge was gone.

“So …” Choi spoke. “You know the Avatar.”

Toph snorted. “What gave it away?”

There was some commotion—Jiayi elbowing her idiot of a brother. Good riddance.

“So … you’re Toph _Beifong_. The Avatar’s earthbending master.”

“I’m the Greatest Earthbender in the World,” Toph said, running her hand through the pretty, pretty golden coins. With a twist of her wrist, they lifted into the air. “And I invented metalbending.”

“Why didn’t you _tell us_?” Choi exclaimed.

If she knew how, Toph would have rolled her eyes. “I told you my name, you idiot. I told you I was the greatest earthbender you’d ever meet. I told you I knew the layout of the Fire Palace by heart. I didn’t _need_ to tell you I was blind. Who else could I have been?”

The coins swirled around her hand, forming a gauntlet. She wondered if she could make a weapon of that—hard metal discs woven into her clothes, which she could direct and mould at any given moment.

“She has a point, Choi,” Jiayi, the more reasonable one, told her idiotic brother. “Look … Lady Beifong … we’re sorry to have doubted you.”

“Yeah,” Toph huffed, “you better be. I’m awesome.”

“Can we please split the money now?” Choi the Eternally Annoying One squealed.

“Why?”

There was a lot of indignant spluttering Toph didn’t care to hear.

“Because, as far as _I_ recall, we agreed that we split according to who does most of the work.” She grinned, and felt a shiver go through Choi. Oh, how she loved the power of her grins. “What exactly did _you_ do?”

His gulp was audible even to those who didn’t have Toph’s advanced senses.

“Precisely.”

“But … but …”

She shrugged. “Well … I suppose since you _did_ make up two thirds of my team …” She curled her fingers into claws, and two gold pieces rose from the bag, and into Jiayi and Choi’s chests. “Here. Don’t spend it all in one place.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr.](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/stars-and-darkness)


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